The fill name is San Carlos De Bariloche, but most just say “Bariloche.”  It’s a town of about 130K nestled in the mountains near Chile and set on a lake which leads to many other lakes. So this is the “lake region.”  The lake on which Bariloche sits is, according to our guide today, about the size of BsAs. Big! Today we had a leisurely guided drive all around the region, stopping at several places for pictures. Then we took a ride on a chair lift! Now, I’m a person who gets nervous on a ladder!  Now we are in this ski lift swinging chair thing high above the ground, climbing to the top of the mountain. Yikes. Breathe….try to relax.  The mild terror was worth the view, which was of all the lakes, islands, a fancy schmancy hotel called LLAO LLAO, built in the 40s by some wealthy europeans who couldn’t go back to Germany to vacation, so built a place reminding them of the castles at home. Now this hotel is used by the wealthiest Argentinians, mostly from BsAs, and wealthy europeans. LLAO LLAO means sweet tasting–apparently from the original natives who called a mushroom which grows on trees, llao llau. So the hotel and indeed the region around it are now called llao llao (pronounced shao shao). After our car tour we picked up luggage at our hotel and headed downtown to see the cathedral with our driver, leaving the guide free for the rest of his day. We were unable to get inside to enjoy the stained glass as the church was locked! Surprised me as most churches in BsAs are always open. We took a liking to Gabriel, our driver, who told us the story of meeting his wife three days after landing in Bariloche, at a dance. They have three beautiful children and seem a lovely, happy family. The wife is a schoolteacher-elementary age. We inited Gabriel to share lunch at a restaurant he’s recommended, Family Weis (picture of a German guy(maybe Swiss) outside in those short leather pants!  Lunch was super–I had trout from the lake I could see thru the window of the restaurant and a sample of their local beer, Denna had venison and spatzel with wine, and Gabriel had gnochi relleno(which he explained for me means “stuffed”). After lunch we headed out around the lake to our place for the next two nights, a quaint and friendly place right on the lake called Las Balsas. The beach is beautiful and just steps from the hotel porch. Later I hope to take a stroll sans shoes. As Gabriel said, now I am enjoying the life!